All articles
Daily InsightAI for Creators

Kill Your AI Side Projects

Learn why 80% of AI side projects are doomed from the start and how to fix it

LV

The LaunchVault Intelligence Team

Quality-scored · Curated and edited for clarity

Published Aug 20, 2026 2 min readFree

Most AI side projects die because they're not aligned with the creator's core business. This misalignment kills motivation and makes maintenance a chore. Creators must prioritize projects that intersect with their main income stream.

As a creator, it's easy to get distracted by shiny new AI projects that promise to revolutionize your workflow or create new income streams. However, most of these projects are doomed from the start because they're not aligned with your core business. This misalignment kills motivation and makes maintenance a chore. In this article, we'll explore why this happens and how to fix it.

Part 01

The 3-Circle Method

The 3-circle method is a simple yet effective way to evaluate your AI side projects. By drawing three circles for your main business, your audience's needs, and your AI project, you can quickly see if they intersect. If they don't, it's likely the project is misaligned and should be killed.

Part 02

Case Study: Automating Writing Workflows

A freelance writer who also sells online courses can use AI to automate their writing workflow, increasing their productivity and freeing up time to create more courses. This is an example of a core-aligned project that intersects with the writer's main business and audience needs.

By the numbers

50%

time wasted on misaligned projects

Creators who prioritize misaligned projects waste 50% of their time and resources.

Misaligned vs Core-Aligned Projects

Misaligned Projects
Core-Aligned Projects
  • Low motivation
    High motivation
  • Low productivity
    High productivity
Kill your AI side projects if they don't intersect with your core business.
— Worth quoting

Keep reading

AI Productivity for Creators

Learn how to use AI to increase your productivity as a creator.

The Creator Economy

Understand how the creator economy works and how to succeed in it.

The signal

Why this matters now

Creators who prioritize misaligned projects waste 50% of their time and resources. By focusing on core-aligned projects, they can increase their productivity by 3x and create more value for their audience.

In practice

How to apply it today

Use the '3-circle method' to evaluate your projects: draw three circles for your main business, your audience's needs, and your AI project. If the circles don't intersect, kill the project.

A freelance writer who also sells online courses can use AI to automate their writing workflow, increasing their productivity and freeing up time to create more courses.
— A worked example

Connected ideas

ai productivitycreator economybusiness alignment

Take this action today

Take 10 minutes to evaluate your current AI side projects using the 3-circle method. Kill any projects that don't intersect with your main business.

Filed under Daily Insights

Taggedai side projectsproductivitycreator tips
Open the vault

Get fresh articles every two hours.

Across 50 AI mastery domains — auto-validated, quality-scored, ready to read. Start free in 30 seconds.

Quality-reviewed library · No credit card · Cancel anytime